Murder, My Sweet

Director: Edward Dmytryk
Year Released: 1944
Rating: 3.0

Noir staple - from Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, My Lovely - has private detective Philip Marlowe (a flat, homely Dick Powell) sticking his neck in a convoluted battle over a pretty expensive jade necklace. Though not as memorable or punchy in style as Howard Hawks, Dmytryk's direction is serviceable - the story's plotting and dialogue are what really matter. Nobody's this witty in real-life (okay, most people aren't this witty in real life), and the art of writing snappy, clever dialogue is sadly missing from the majority of today's pictures (Ben Hecht, come back!) - Mamet basically keeps it going, as does Q.T. and the Coens (at times). So appropriate that it begins and ends with Ol' Phil blindfolded (because of the flash of a pistol): the tale lives in the mind, and memories are spotty at best.